Tuesday, July 10, 2007 Amendments to human security act sought By Stephen capillas
WITH the Human Security Act scheduled for implementation sometime this month, lawmakers are calling on amendments to the law, which they warned would be used to harass legitimate critics of the Arroyo administration.
Cagayan de Oro Second District Representative Rufus Rodriguez said Arroyo's officials would use such law to clamp down not only on militant groups, but also media outlets.
"Every media practitioner from print to broadcast to even those online will be subject to severe penalties from the Human Security Act and we want to prevent this from happening," Rodriguez said.
The lawmaker issued the statement even as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to attend the Mindanao Peace and Security Summit held at one of the hotels here in Cagayan de Oro Tuesday.
Earlier, militant groups like Karapatan issued anew their condemnation of the law, saying this would only result in more harassment and prosecution of their ranks.
Karapatan lawyer Beverly Musni said the spate of summary killings of militant members would only worsen with the implementation of the Human Security Act or the Anti-Terror law.
Rodriguez for his part said any proposed amendments would have to further ensure the protection of rights of the Filipinos, particularly those critical of the administration.
"The objectives of the law are good but its implementation may result in violations of rights of persons. The workshops done in the summit would be submitted for results to the President for consideration," Rodriguez said.
Insurgency problem
The summit, which ends Tuesday, is attended by top local and national government officials, law enforcement agencies, local government unit (LGU) leaders, sectoral delegates and representatives from the ecumenical religious groups.
Military officials in Butuan City meanwhile said the lack of united government efforts to resolve the insurgency problems may hinder the 2010 deadline set by President Arroyo to end the communist rebellion in the country.
The pronouncements came in the wake of the security preparations for President Arroyo's more than two-hour visit to Butuan City Tuesday.
Military officials who requested anonymity said the causes of the insurgency problem are deeply rooted in the socio-economic woes per region.
"While the motive of President Arroyo to crush insurgency by 2010 is good, it is the lack of united and coordinated efforts by all government agencies to defeat poverty caused obstacle in the deadline", the officials said.
"We spend taxpayers' money to fund operations of these government agencies tasked to inform people, but were they understood by ordinary families whose family members are easy targets for NPA (New People's Army) recruitments?" they asked. (With reports from Ben Serrano)
